


you know what they say, but i love to come back to you

by matelotage



Series: and it breaks my heart, you know ( but i think it's time to go ) [2]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Carlos is a sweetheart, Crew as Family, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Good Dad Owen, Hospitalization, Hurt TK, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Overdose, Injury Recovery, M/M, Major Character Injury, Medical Conditions, Medical Procedures, Medicine, Near Death Experiences, Not Beta Read, Recovery, References to Addiction, Surgery, TK Centric, Team as Family, The 126 are a great big wonderful family, Whump, Worry, but i mean it could also probably be read as a stand alone i guess?? idk, firefam - Freeform, idk this probably won't make too much sense without reading the first part??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:08:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22794523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matelotage/pseuds/matelotage
Summary: TK’s eyes slide over to the side of the hospital bed, a small bouquet of sunflowers and a teddy bear adorned with a fire hat resting alongside it.  He hadn’t noticed that before.“You visit the gift shop, dad?”“Oh that? No, Officer Reyes came by this morning with those."
Relationships: Carlos Reyes (9-1-1 Lone Star)/TK Strand
Series: and it breaks my heart, you know ( but i think it's time to go ) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1640935
Comments: 7
Kudos: 397





	you know what they say, but i love to come back to you

**Author's Note:**

> oh man, i just wanna start off by saying i'm completely blown away by the kind comments & feedback from the first part of this series ??? like ????? ahhhh you guys ;-; thank you s o much !!! i keep going back & reading each comment over again bc u guys are just too kind & i'm so happy y'all liked it & wanted more ??? i hope this is a worthy sequel! and for all those who were asking about carlos / tarlos, don't worry, i didn't forget! ^.^
> 
> if the inspiration strikes, i'll probably have more one shots & such for this series in the future. thank you all again for the kudos, comments, bookmarks, etc. i really appreciate it! <3 
> 
> enjoy ~  
> <3

* * *

“Captain Strand, you need to stay back!” 

Things are loud and chaotic, no wonder all the yelling woke him up. 

“They said he was stable! What’s going on?”  
And it’s at that moment that TK decides he doesn’t like how upset his father sounds. 

“Sir, please, you need to stay back so the doctors can do their jobs.” 

There’s indistinct loud chatter, the sound of boots scuffling along the floor, and the hum of medical equipment in the vicinity. 

Things fade out again after that. 

* * *

“Avoid the opiods if you can. _Please.”_ It’s his father again, but then he hears Michelle cut in immediately after, voice commanding. “I want that documented in his chart right now.” 

Someone squeezes his hand. He doesn’t stay conscious for long. 

* * *

TK hears steady beeping before any of his other senses come back to him. 

Opening his eyes proves to be more difficult than it should be, but he manages. He turns his head, takes all his surroundings in. A hospital room. Uh oh. 

Owen’s slumped uncomfortably in a chair pulled next to the bed, looking like he hasn’t shaved or showered recently. Something terrible must have happened, because TK’s never seen his dad’s hair that greasy in his entire life. 

Trying to move more than a couple inches proves nearly impossible, but luckily, his struggles are enough to wake the sleeping man. Owen blinks, then the realization hits that TK’s awake. 

He scrambles up and out of the chair, hovering over TK almost uncertainly. “Hey, hey, you’re up. You’re up. Let me get the nurse.”

The younger man reaches out with surprising strength, curling a trembling hand around his father’s wrist. “...what happened?” 

The question looks like it ages his father ten years. 

“You had a splenic rupture. It must’ve happened during our last call. By the time they got you into surgery, the surgeon said your abdominal cavity was so full of blood it was like _soup_ in there. ” 

He doesn’t know what to say, at that time it hadn’t seemed like things were that bad. 

The older man sucks in a deep breath, and TK’s sure this is where the lecture is going to start. 

Except, it doesn’t. 

The fire captain starts crying and suddenly TK’s at a loss at what to do. 

“They told me to prepare for the worst while they had you in surgery. If Judd and Paul hadn’t checked in on you when they did, we would have been finding your corpse when the next call came in.”

“It’s a good thing they were there.” The younger man stammers. 

“I already told them they’re _so_ getting a raise.” Owen responds, a lame attempt at a chuckle following his words. 

The man wastes no time in gathering his son up in a fierceful hug _**(**_ as fierce as a hug he can manage without messing with the IV’s and the other firefighter’s stitches, anyway _ **)**_. TK hugs back just as tight, thinking back to the last time they’d hugged like this, just after TK had vomited a handful of pills out all over his apartment floor

It isn’t until Owen’s finally pulling away and dabbing at the drying tears on his cheeks that he reaches for his phone.  
“I’m texting the crew that you’re awake. We have a _group chat_ now. They’ll be over later to visit.” TK’s eyes slide over to the side of the hospital bed, a small bouquet of sunflowers and a teddy bear adorned with a fire hat resting alongside it. He hadn’t noticed that before. 

“You visit the gift shop, dad?”

“Oh that? No, _Officer Reyes_ came by this morning with those. He wanted to stay longer but he had to report in for his shift. He gave me his number so I could let him know when you were up. He’s a _very_ nice young man.”

 _“Dad.”_

Owen presses on, turning serious once more. “I know I’m the last person who should be giving you a lecture about not speaking up when something’s wrong, but next time you so much as get a papercut, TK, I want you to tell me. Or text me. Or call me. Or someone on the crew. Or Captain Blake or that nice police officer. Just tell _someone_ , alright?” 

He nods his assent, while the captain moves to help him get comfortable against the pillows again. It’s going to be a long couple of days, but things are certainly looking up again now that his son has pulled through the worst of his medical emergency. 

TK hasn’t been awake for very long, but sleep is already pulling at him by the time Owen’s tucking the sheets around him. 

“Get some rest, son.” 

* * *

The next time he wakes up, it’s to the entirety of the Build a Bear store covering his bed. Or, so it looks like. 

“What do they have me on?” He croaks out loud.

“He’s awake, he’s awake!” A voice that distinctly sounds like Mateo shouts just a little too loudly. 

Marjan’s near his side, propping a dark grey bunny plush near his arm. “We couldn’t agree on which one to get you at the gift shop, so we figured we may as well go with the variety.” 

“I can see that.” He smiles, the weight of a half dozen stuffed animals on him oddly comforting. Maybe they’re trying to smother him via teddy bear. It probably wouldn’t be the worst way to go. 

Paul and Judd stand a few feet away, an impressive bundle of flower arrangements held between the two of them. 

“Did you raid a greenhouse?” He can’t help it, from the looks of it they’ve probably put a florist out of business. 

Judd rolls his eyes while Paul barks a laugh, both men electing to deposit the bouquets on the nearest table so they can approach his bedside. Paul rocks back on his heels, tension in his shoulders seeming to visibly dissipate at the fact TK’s awake and speaking to them. “Are you feeling any better?”

“Much.” TK responds, “Thanks for coming to check on me when you guys did, dad said if---” 

They both shake their heads, but Paul’s the first to speak. “No thanks necessary.” 

There’s something unreadable in Judd’s expression, voice somehow softer than his usual tone. 

“We’re just glad we got to you in time.” 

They all stay through dinner, even if TK gripes about the fact he’s not allowed to have pizza with the rest of them. Hospital food sucks even more when there’s more appetizing things to munch on in the vicinity. Mateo offers to sneak him some, but Judd insists Michelle and the nurses will sense patient protocol not being followed and beat them all to death. 

Instead, they decide to make arrangements for a _pizza party_ once he’s recovered enough to handle greasy food again. 

Everyone’s getting ready to leave when Judd turns, fixing TK with a knowing stare. 

“Guess your dad already gave you the stern talking to?” 

“Uh-huh. If something doesn’t feel right, I’m supposed to talk to someone. I’m supposed to remember what I learned in preschool. _Sharing is caring._ ” 

“Sharing is caring.” The 126 sing-song back in unison, grins around the room. 

He’s so lucky to have them. 

* * *

“You can come in, Carlos.” 

He’d been feigning interest in the cartoon characters bouncing around the tv screen, watching out of the corner of his eye as the officer hesitated in the doorway for the past five minutes. 

Carlos looks a little embarrassed, but quickly heads into the room as instructed. “I heard you were awake, just wanted to check in.” He shoots a nervous glance towards the firefighter bear, having been moved to join the collection of stuffed animals left by the rest of the 126. 

“I hope that was okay, I just saw it on the way here and it reminded me of you.” 

TK gazes at the bear fondly. “No, it’s fine. It was really sweet, thank you.” 

Carlos whistles at the flower arrangements and the rest of the stuffed animal stash set up in the corner of the room. “So, I see your crew’s been in to visit too, huh?” 

TK ducks his head, bashful. The officer pulls up a chair, knees gently bumping the side of the bed.  
“Michelle was the one who called me when they rushed you into surgery. I got down here as soon as I could. They wouldn't let me see you yet, but your dad said he'd make sure the bear and flowers were there for you as soon as they got you into a room.” 

“You dropped everything just to see if I was okay?”

“Turned the light bar on and everything, Tiger.” 

Something pleasant settles in the firefighter’s chest at the other man’ admission. 

“How are you feeling? Can I get you anything?” 

TK smiles, shakes his head softly. “I’m good, I’m better. I’m glad you came to see me.” 

They sit in companionable silence for a few moments, before TK finally works up the courage to ask Officer Reyes what’d he’d been meaning to since he’d seen him at the door. 

“So, I'm here under observation for another few days, and then I’ll be off duty for a few weeks after that. Maybe, if you’re free, we could hang out? I can line up an entire Netflix queue.” 

Carlos nods along, pleased with the idea as Tyler half-drags him in to sit on the side of the bed.  
“I could try and could cook for you this time.” 

The firefighter leans in for a kiss, just as Owen Strand walks through the door. 

“TK, you would not believe the---oh boy, I should’ve stayed for that extra slice of cake in the cafeteria, sorry.”

Carlos stumbles upright, standing at attention. “Captain Strand. How are you, sir?” 

The fire captain’s expression lightens, “Well, I’ve gotten more grey hair in the past few days than I’d care to think about. But my boy’s up and feeling better, so I’d say I’m doing pretty well.” Despite the jovial tone, he fixes Carlos with the protective _look_ only a father can dish out. “But he is supposed to be on bed rest. No physical activity for a couple weeks, and I know the doctor wasn’t just talking about his shifts at the firehouse, so---”

 _“Dad.”_ TK protests weakly. 

They need divine intervention, and thankfully it comes in the form of Michelle. 

She materializes suddenly, peeking in the doorway. “Oh, Carlos. I didn’t know you were stopping by.” The EMT says conspiratorially, smiling sweetly. “He’s a keeper, TK. But you should be resting. You be careful with him, Carlos.” 

With that, she gives a little wave and drags Owen out of the room with her. 

“We’re going to be dealing with a lot of this, aren’t we?” Carlos sighs, an amused smile tugging at his lips. 

“You think this is bad? Wait until the rest of the crew hears about this.” TK laughs, pulling the officer in for a proper kiss this time.

* * *


End file.
